Many organisations across different sectors are collaborating for Health Information Week (HIW) (3-9th July 2017). This campaign aims to improve accessibility of high quality health information for the public as well as building on local partnerships between information providers and improving health literacy.

The Library & Knowledge Service has brought together useful resources in their Patient Information Knowledge Hub

We also have a patient information leaflet to aid “Finding Quality Information on the Internet”. This can also befound on the trust website for patient leaflets

Maternal antidepressants are implicated in ADHD, but so is maternal depression

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The safety of antidepressants in pregnancy is controversial, partly because of profound methodological difficulties in separating the fetal effects of antidepressants from those related to maternal depression (confounding by indication). One central concern is the potential impact of these drugs on fetal brain development. Such effects may be subtle and possibly only detectable years after exposure, such as an increased susceptibility to (multifactorial) neurodevelopmental conditions.

The House of Lords Select Committee on the Long-term Sustainability of the NHS published a report on adult social care in April 2017. The post Select Committee on the Long-term Sustainability of the NHS report – Adult Social Care appeared first on Equality and Diversity Forum

NHS England will be leading a review of low value prescription items from April 2017 and introducing new guidance for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), with a view to substantially saving NHS expenditure in this area. See more information here

People with life threatening symptoms of sepsis should be reviewed and treated within an hour, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended. Read the news article here and see the new draft quality standard along with guidance recently published.

Every hospital in England must have a “comprehensive” GP led triage system in emergency departments by October 2017 in a bid to avoid a repeat of the winter crisis that gripped the service this year, NHS leaders have said.

The requirement is one of several “concrete changes” demanded by NHS England’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, and the chief executive of NHS Improvement, Jim Mackey, in a letter sent after the chancellor Philip Hammond’s budget pledge to give the NHS an extra £100m (€115m; $120m) in 2017‑18 to spend on easing pressures in accident and emergency departments.

From October general practices in England will be financially penalised if they close during core working hours during the week, the chief executive of NHS England has said.

Simon Stevens told MPs on the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee that changes to the GP contract, which will be introduced in October, will allow NHS England to scrutinise GP opening hours more closely and take action where necessary.